How's your breath? It could tell a lot about your health status, according to this Wall Street Journal story, which quotes researchers from the Cleveland Clinic.Scientists “are identifying thousands of chemical compounds that create those telltale odors” in breath, The Journal says. “Tools called mass spectrometers can detect them in quantities as minute as parts per trillion.” Researchers also are developing tests “that can diagnose and monitor not just liver and kidney disorders, but also asthma, diabetes, tuberculosis, gastrointestinal infections — even the rejection of transplanted organs — by analyzing biomarkers in exhaled breath,” according to the newspaper."Anything you can have a blood test for, there is potentially a breath test for, as long as there is a volatile component," says Raed A. Dweik, director of the pulmonary vascular program at the Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. Breath tests are valuable because they're “painless, faster to return results and potentially less expensive than blood tests — and easy to repeat as often as needed, even while patients are sleeping or exercising,” The Journal says. The paper notes that exhaled breath contains a host of "confounders" inhaled from the air — including molecules of pollution, paint, furniture, even carpet fibers — that can interfere with breath sampling. So, The Journal adds, can patients' heart rates, ages and other health conditions, making it difficult for researchers to get consistent results in clinical trials."For doctors and the FDA to buy into this concept, we have to tell them what we are smelling and why and how that compound is related to the disease process," Dr. Dweik says.The Journal says that at the Clinic's Respiratory Institute, Peter Mazzone, director of the lung cancer program, is testing a sensor array that changes color when a patient's breath passes over it, made by Metabolomx of Mountain View, Calif. Dr. Mazzone and his colleagues “are collecting breath samples from as many patients as possible, with and without lung cancer, in order to develop still more specific patterns for breath tests to look for in the future,” according to the story."My vision is being able to say, 'This is a 60-year-old with emphysema who smoked for 30 years — what's the chance of there being cancer there?' But we have to teach the device what it looks like first," Dr. Mazzone tells the newspaper.Color them impressedInvestor's Business Daily has a flattering take on the performance of Avon Lake-based PolyOne Corp. since Stephen Newlin took over as CEO in February 2006.At the time, PolyOne — a provider of specialized polymer materials for the plastics industry — had an on-time delivery rate of 81%, the newspaper reports.“The corporate culture had an attitude of that's good enough,” according to Investor's Business Daily. “Although 81% was in line with the industry average, Newlin challenged the company to aim for 95%.”In his most recent letter to shareholders, Mr. Newlin “reported that on-time delivery was now at 94%,” the newspaper notes. “He added that it was achieved via operational planning and efficiencies, not by stockpiling inventory.”Investors have taken notice.Investor's Business Daily notes that PolyOne's stock “is up about 90% during Newlin's reign,” compared with a 36% increase for the Nasdaq and a 14% hike for the S&P 500.A major challenge ahead is the slowdown in Europe. In the second quarter, PolyOne's volumes fell 6.4% because of weak demand there, the newspaper says. Overall, company sales grew 3%, the smallest gain since late 2009.A help to PolyOne was the December 2011 purchase of ColorMatrix, a Berea-based manufacturer of performance-enhancing additives for plastic products and colorants. ColorMatrix “has higher margins than PolyOne's other segments,” the newspaper reports. “In Q2, after-tax margin was 4.2%, the highest in at least 17 quarters. Pretax margin was 5.1% last year, the highest in at least nine years.”Tell us what you really thinkJosh Mandel has been campaigning for many months to join the U.S. Senate, but he still can't — or won't — state a clear position on what he thinks of the 2009 federal bailout of Chrysler and General Motors.It's not an insubstantial question, as the Associated Press notes that about 850,000 Ohioans work in the auto industry directory or in companies that support it.But three years after the bailout, Mr. Mandel, Ohio's treasurer, “declines to offer an opinion” about the government's action.“I have not come out in support or opposition to the bailout,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. Pressed, he said twice, “It depends on who you talk to.”It's bizarre, then, that, as the AP notes, he “eagerly blames (Sen. Sherrod) Brown and the bailout for causing the loss of pensions for nonunion employees” at Delphi Corp., a former GM subsidiary.“Talk to Delphi employees, tens of thousands who were stripped of their pensions because of a process that Sherrod Brown supported,” Mr. Mandel tells the AP.So why can't he just come out and say the bailout was a bad idea?